A buck well worth believing

Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck was calling Game 1 of the 1988 World Series not knowing a historic moment was headed his way.

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poconorecord.com

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Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck was calling Game 1 of the 1988 World Series not knowing a historic moment was headed his way.

Kirk Gibson had limped to the plate — the Dodgers' star player had an injured hamstring and could barely run.

That's when Gibson connected on a Dennis Eckersley slider, sending it drifting into the LA night sky and into the right-field bleachers, winning the game for the Dodgers.

"I can't believe what I just saw!" Buck bellowed into the microphone as Gibson limped around the bases.

Fast-forward 25 years to October 2013 and my friend Eddie Kiser told me he had a photo he wanted to show me. And there it was, probably the most unusual buck I had ever seen in Pennsylvania.

It's antlers were, well, everywhere.

Buck's home run call echoed in my mind. I couldn't believe what I just saw.

I knew Kiser's photo was a story, but I couldn't tell it ... yet. Kiser was hunting the deer and I wasn't about to send the hunting community into a frenzy trying to figure out where the deer could be.

I counted 20 points, but know there are more because the photo is inconclusive in areas.

On Monday I called Kiser and asked him, now that the popular two-week rifle season was over, if I could write about his most unique photo. It was a photo that was so unusual, but came from such a credible source, that I had no doubt of its authenticity. He graciously agreed.

On Wednesday, Kiser's photo went public for the first time. And what a reaction it received.

Kiser's phone "blew up" he said as he received so many calls. He couldn't answer them all, he said.

Many people approached me on Wednesday: Is that photo real? Yes, it's real.

That's a real deer? Correct.

Where is it? I'm not sure exactly. All I will tell is that it lives in Monroe County.

Is it Photoshopped? Ah, no (see questions 1 and 2).

Of course people on the Internet have their theories about the deer — Poconorecord.com and the Record's Facebook page have exploded with feedback — both positive and negative.

The deer also brought together a community of people who live among each other — differing life philosophies and all — that the animal kingdom is an incredible thing.

And yes it's true, the deer and the photo are real.

What's unimaginable is how the buck has been lucky enough to avoid hunters or cars or coyotes so far. Very little reaction from readers has proclaimed, "I've seen this buck!"

Maybe that's because if you were lucky enough to spot it, you couldn't in your wildest dreams believe what you just saw.